Student guide to bills - Closing accounts

Closing accounts: Once the lease on your property is up in order for you to claim back the deposit paid to your land lord you will most likely be obligated to close all billing accounts and prove that they have been paid up to the date you have moved out.

To do this you will have to contact all of your utility suppliers and tell them that you are moving out and you would like the account in your name closed and an up to date bill. For gas and electricity you will need to take meter readings and give these to the company so they can send a closing balance based on that.

You will also have to phone the local council and ask for a letter saying that you have a nil balance for council tax. As previously mentioned if you had a lease less than 12 months it is most likely that you will be refunded on your water bills. In some cases you may also be refunded on gas and electricity.

It is very important though that you get the meter readings when you move out of the premises otherwise you may end up paying part of the new tenants bills.

Once you have received all the closing statements and paid those that need to be paid you will have to get copies to your landlord as proof and then you will be able to reclaim your deposit. This is of course assuming you haven’t destroyed their property.

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